Guide for sewing-machines.



N0. 699,772. Patented May l3, I902.

l. STUHLMAN.

GUIDE FOR SEWING MACHINES. (Appligation filed Jan; 26, 1900. Renewedi Mar. 28, 1902. (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Shaet 1.

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Patented May l3, I902.

I. STUHLMAN.

GUIDE FOR SEWING MACHINES.

(Application filed Jan. 26, 1900. Renewed Mar. 28, 1902.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2,

(No Model.)

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ISAAC STUHLMAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GUIDE FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 699,772, dated May 13, 1902.

Application filed January 26,1900. Renewed March 28, 1902. Serial No. 100,420. (No model.)

1'0 (0Z5 whont it may concern:

Be it known that I, ISAAC STUHLMAN, a citizen 0f the United States, residing at Chicago,

in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, '5 have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Guides for Sewing-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates to guides for sewinginachines; and ithas for its primary object to provide a guide capable of being set and readily reset to a certain adjustment for run- 'ning a number of scams or hems of equal width or for continuing the same width of seam or hem when it becomes necessary for any reason to remove the guide while a portion of the seam is being stitched.

Another object ofmy invention is to provide a guide which may be utilized for stitch ing the edge and also for quilting purposes.

With these ends inview my invention consists in certain features of novelty in the con struction, combination, and arrangement of parts by which the said objects and certain other objects hereinafter appearing are attained, all as fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the said drawings, Figure 1 is a perspec: tive view of a'sewing-machine head,'partly broken away, showing my attachment applied thereto, the View being taken from the rear. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the attachment, partly in section. Fig.3 is an enlarged detail sectional view. of the arm-joint hereinafter described, showing the locking mechanism. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view of the eccentric lifting-joint hereinafter explained, and Fig. 5 is a detail vertical section of the lock or latch for holding the guidestem against movement with relation to the gages hereinafter explained.

1 represents a block or'plate adapted to come. against the edge of the goods 2 and which constitutes the guide proper. This block or plate 1 is also provided with a pointed end 3, which when the block or plate 1 is left free to rotate on its pivot descends against the goods and forms a pointer or marker for tracing the previous seam, and thus enabling the operator to produce anotherscam parallel therewith in work, such as quilting, for instance. The guide proper, 1, is provided with a short stem 4, into which is inserted a reduced end 5 of a stem 6 and which is held on said reduced end by a setscrew 7, which passes through the stem at and engages in a groove 8 in the reduced end 5,

whereby the guide 1 may be fixed against rotation or allowedto rotate freely on the stem 6, and thus conform to the thickness and irregularities of the goods being stitched.

The stem 6 is arranged horizontally in a pair of keepers 7 and is free to slide longitudinally, whereby the guide 1 may be arranged at the desired distance from the needle 8. The keepers 7 are formed on or secured to a base-plate 9, and interposed under the stem 6 and resting on the base-plate 9 are two gages 1O 11, each provided with a slot 12, through which pass screws 13 14, whereby the gages may be secured at the desired adjustment on the plate 9, the gages being provided with pointers 15 16, respectively,and thebaseplate 9 with graduations, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, indicating inches and fractions thereof or any other desired system of measurement.

The gages 1O 11 are independent of each other and they are provided with flanges 17 18, respectively, the former of which has formed in its upper edge a. notch 19, and the latter is provided with a notch 20, while the stem 6 is provided with means for cooperating with either of these notches 19 20, and thus holding the guide 1 in a position corresponding to the position of that one of the gages 1011 whose notch 19 20 is engaged by the said. means on the stem 6. This means on the stem 6 for thus looking it with reference to the gages 10 11 preferably consists of a dog 21, formed on a head 22, having a stem 23, passing downwardly into a box 24 and being provided with a coil-spring orcushion 25, acting on a pin 26, passing throughthe stem 23, to pull the dog 21 downwardly into one of the notches 19 20 when it coincides therewith. The lower end of the stem23 may also, if desired, be provided with a pin 23, which when the stem descends engages in aperforation 10 in the gage 10, a like perforation (not shown) being formed in the gage 11 for the same purpose, so that the stem 6 will have attachment to one of said gages at two different placesto wit, one of the notches 19 20 and the perforation thus insuring secure attachment.

The purpose of the gage 10 is to determine the distance from the edge of the goods that the first seam or edge-stitching shall be located, the gage being slid along the plate 9 after the screw 23 has been loosened until the pointer registers at the graduation which corresponds to the distance which it is desired the ed ge-stitchin g shall occupy from the edge of the goods. The goods2 being placed against the guide 1 and the seam run in the ordinary manner, the head 22 may then be lifted to disengage the dog 21 from the notch 19 and the stem 6 slid inwardly until the dog falls into the notch 20, the pointer of the gage 11 having previously been set at the graduation 'which indicates the distance that the "next seam shall occupy from the first seam.

Thus it will be seen that if it should be desired to run a number of edge seams all of a uniform width or distance from the edge of the goods and also run another seaminwardly therefrom at a certain distance from each of the edge seams the operation may be readily accomplished by first running the edge seam and then changing the guide for running the next seam parallel therewith, whereas heretofore, owing to the difliculty of resetting the guide to the exact width of the previous seam, it has been desirable to run all of the seams of a given width in all of the garments to be stitched before changing the guide, thus making it necessary to finish the garments in piecemeal and requiring the same to be handled a great number of times. WVith my invention, however, it is obvious that after the gages 1O 11 have once been set the position of the guide may be readily changed from one seam to the other by simply shifting the dog 21 from one of the notches 19 20 to the other.

In order that the attachment may be readily thrown up out of the way when it is not needed, it is supported by a hinged arm composed of two membersa member 27, which is secured to the plate 9 in any desired way and hinged to the other member 28,- which in turn is pivoted by a pin 29 to one section 30 of a divided collar, whose other section 31 is attached to the section 30 by screws 32 or other suitable devices, adapting the collar to be clamped around the sewing-machine arm 33. The arm member 28 is preferably curved downwardly, so that when it is thrown up out of the way it will conform to the under side of the collar 30 31 and lift the arm member 27 and plate 9 as high as possible, the arm 27 being curved reversely of the arm 28, so that when the device is folded up the arm 27 may be turned down to conform to the curvature of the arm 28.

The device is preferably thrown up automatically when released by means of a spring 33, composed of a flexible wire or rod bent downwardly in a U -shape form, so as to bear against the arm 28 and having its upper extremities coiled around and secured in the extremities of the pin 29 and exerting a normal tendency to throw the arm 28 upwardly. The device is held down in its normal position, however, by a spring-lock 34, socketed in a cavity 35 in the collar-section 30 and having its inner end pressed normally against the side of the arm 28 bya spiral spring 36, so that when a socket 37 in the arm 28 comes opposite the lock 34 the latter will drop into it and hold the arm 28 down in position.

It will of course be understood that when the device is used for quilting purposes it is necessary that it be elevated a considerable distance from the sewing-machine plate to permit the quilt to pass under, and in order that this may be readily accomplished the pivot which connects the arm 27 to the arm 28 is made, as better shown in Fig. 4, on the principle of an eccentric, so that when it is turned it will lift the plate 9 from the sewing-machine plate the desired distance. In the arm 27is journaled the eccentric 38,"which is held in place on one side by a flange 39 and on the other by a thumb -head 40, by means of which the eccentric may be turned, and formed on or projecting from one side of the eccentric is a screw 41, which is threaded in the arm 28 and carries on the opposite side of the arm 28 a thumb-nut 42, which may be loosened to permit of relative oscillation of the arms 27 28, and when it is desired to raise the plate 9 for quilting purposes the nut 42 is loosened and the thumb-head 40 is rotated until the eccentric 38 lifts the arm 27 the desired distance, whereupon the thumbnut 42 may be again tightened up for maintaining the apparatus in this position, the set-screw 7 in the stem of the guide 1 being loosened to permit the guide to drop down and conform to the irregularities in the goods. It is also evident that when the eccentric 38 is turned for raising the arm 27 said arm, and consequently the plate 9 and guide 1, will be shifted away from the needle a certain distance corresponding to the pitch of the threads of the screw 41 and the extent to which the eccentric 38 is rotated, and this variation in theposition of the guide 1 isuseful in many forms of sewing.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A guide attachment for sewing-machines having in combination a plate, two independ ent gages adj ustably secured to said plate, a guide proper having a stem adjustably mounted on said plate over said gages, flanges on said gages having notches and a dog on said stem adapted to engage in said notches, substantially as set forth.

2. A guide attachment for sewing-machines having in combination a guide proper, a twopart hinged arm and an eccentric by which the parts of said arm are hinged together, whereby the guide may be elevated by theturning of said eccentric, substantially as set forth.

3. A guide attachment forsewing-machines having in combination a guide proper, atwopart hinged arm by which said guide is supported, an eccentric journaled in one part of said arm, a screw projecting from said eccentric and being threaded in the other part of said arm and a nut on said screw, substantially as set forth.

4. Aguide attachment for sewing-machines having in combination a guide proper, and a two-part hinged arm by which said guide is supported, the parts of said arm being reversely curved, substantially as set forth.

5. Aguideattachmentforsewing-machines havingin combination a guide proper, a support to which said guide is rotatably secured, an arm for supporting said support and an eccentric by which said support is connected to said arm and by which eccentric said support may'be bodily lifted to permit the support to pass over the goods without lifting the guide out of operative relation to the goods, substantially as set forth.

6. A guide attachment for sewing-machines having in combination a plate, two gages relatively adj ustable,secured to said plate,a guide proper having a longitudinal stem crossing said plate adjacentto said gages and extending lengthwise of the adjustable movement of said gages, a dog carried by said stemand means whereby said dog is caused to attach said stem to either of said gages always at a definite or fixed point with reference to both the length of said stem and the length of the gage, sub stantially as set forth.

ISAAC STUHLMAN.

WVitnesses:

EDNA B.JoHNsoN, F; A. HOPKINS; 

